Innsbruck, 25.06.2024 - Over 200 Para athletes from all over the world traveled to Innsbruck for the second "IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup" of the year to compete against each other in the Austrian climbing capital.

Among them was para climber Joe Schmit, who was competing at a World Cup for the first time and was officially classified in the AU3 starting class (hand/finger restriction) on site.
Schmit impressed on the first route in qualifying and was in the lead after the first part of the preliminary round together with the Swiss permanent winner Geisseler. Schmit found the second route somewhat more difficult. Starting first, he was pulled out of the wall earlier than hoped and had to fear for a place in the final until the last starter. In the end, he finished in fourth place after qualifying. This was enough to secure the last of four final tickets in his starting class.

In the final, Schmit, who finished fourth in the preliminary round, had to be the first into the wall again. After a very fast start, he made a mistake in the last quarter of the route and then had to wait and tremble. In the end, his three competitors managed to overtake him. Romanian Matei managed one more hold and Schmit was just one point off the podium.

All in all, Schmit was by no means disappointed and summed up his performance as follows:
"Before the competition, I had hoped that I would make it to the final. Nevertheless, I didn't really know where I stood, as I was competing against most of my rivals for the first time. I wanted to attack again in the final and try to cause a surprise. I'm very happy, even if it wasn't enough for an odium place. I achieved my minimum goal and saw that I can keep up with the best in the world. That definitely makes me want more!"